


Unexpected Soulmate

by androgynousclintbarton



Series: Iwa Gai [6]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Colour comes to you when you meet your soulmate, IWA Gai, M/M, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:55:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29434194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/androgynousclintbarton/pseuds/androgynousclintbarton
Summary: Kakashi's out on a mission with his team when they're attacked out of the blue by a team from iwagakure. In the attacking group, Kakashi finds himself face to face with a soulmate he thought he would never find.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy
Series: Iwa Gai [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1745467
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	Unexpected Soulmate

A world of black and white.

That’s the world Kakashi had gotten used to. The one he expected to see for the rest of his life, while others around him had started to see colour years ago when they were all still kids.

There was nothing wrong with a world of black and white. He liked it for a lot of reasons. Colours always seemed to distract the others. Cloud their minds with the feelings that came with them and divert their attention away from the mission.

He didn’t need distractions like that.

Even the worries of others didn’t bother him. Minato-Sensei’s assurance that he would find his ‘soulmate’ one day. That perhaps they had just managed to avoid each other in the village for all this time. Or Obito and Rin’s insistence that he just needed to open up and introduce himself to more people. Then he’d be able to find his soulmate, if only he wasn’t so distant.

None of it got to him. He had a job to do and no desire to find whoever his soulmate was.

They would just get in the way of his missions.

“Come on, Kakashi,” Rin rushed ahead and turned to face him, a bright smile on her face. “What do you think your soulmate is like?”

“We should be focusing on getting home,” he dismissed her question. “Just because our mission is done doesn’t mean we should let our guards down.”

Enemies could show up at any moment ready to attack.

“Just answer the question, Bakashi,” Obito glanced over at him, goggles sitting in his messy hair as always. “Or do you not know what kind of soulmate you want? Oh wait, let me guess. You don’t care.”

Waving a dismissive hand, Obito sped up his pace until he had caught up with Rin.

“Come on Kakashi,” Rin insisted. “Everyone has an idea of what they want their soulmate to be like. Just because you haven’t met them yet doesn’t mean you don’t know what kind of person you want them to be.”

For some reason he didn’t think ‘I haven’t thought about it’ would be a suitable excuse for his teammates, and since his Sensei wasn’t showing any signs of putting an end to the conversation he gave in.

Except that as soon as he opened his mouth to answer the question, he felt a chakra signature closing in on them. Four of them, to be exact, and he wasn’t the only one who noticed apparently, given that Minato-Sensei had stopped in his tracks and turned his eyes towards the treeline to their left.

This is why he had told his teammates to keep their guard up.

“Everyone on guard,” Minato-Sensei spoke in a calm, even voice, his hand reaching down to his side for his Kunai. “When I give the order…”

Minato-Sensei didn’t get to finish whatever it was he was trying to tell them before Kakashi has to react, deflecting a Kunai aimed directly for Obito’s face.

“Damn…” Obito jumped backwards, reaching for his own Kunai as the enemy broke out of the treeline.

Four of them. A team just like them, with three kids about their age and a Sensei.

“Kakashi!” Hearing his Sensei’s silent command, Kakashi moves in front of Obito and Rin. He’s not fond of having to protect his teammates, but this is a mission that they’re not ranked for. They’re still just genin, not supposed to be facing off against enemy nin regardless of how strong they have gotten.

That left Kakashi to do what he could to keep them alive.

The other team branched off from each other. Their sensei heading directly for Minato-Sensei while the three kids targeted Kakashi and his team mates.

“Obito,” Rin’s voice called out behind him, giving him just enough warning to move out of the way before Obito’s Great fireball technique went hurling towards their enemies. It wasn’t enough to do any damage, but it did force the enemys to brake formation.

An opening Kakashi could use.

Rushing forward, he disarmed the first enemy shinobi with ease, watching as he dropped to the ground after Kakashi had elbowed him in the back of the neck. Not a kill shot, but enough to keep them out of the battle.

Next he turned towards the second shinobi. A much more difficult foe to face, judging by her quick hand signs and the sudden appearance of the large spikes protruding from the ground around her when she slammed her hands against the ground.

While he figured out a plan of attack, Kakashi couldn’t help but noticed that Obito and Rin had turned their own attacks onto the third member of the enemies team. The only one Kakashi hadn’t noticed yet.

Coming up with a plan, Kakashi moved to react. From the corner of his eye he could see Minato-Sensei facing off against his enemy, clearly not aiming for a kill for some reason since he seemed more interested in bolting around the area than actually dealing with the enemy.

Perhaps he was just being a show off. Sometime Kakashi wouldn’t put past his Sensei.

Waving some hand signs, Kakashi disappeared into a puff of smoke and left his target searching the area around them wildly. After that it was easy to take her down. Showing up in the small circular space she was occupying, free of the spikes she had set up to protect herself, he hit her in the same spot as her teammate and watched as she collapsed against the ground.

If his Sensei wasn’t going to kill, neither was he. Even if it would be easier for them in the long run.

“Damn it, stay still!” Obito’s voice cut through the air, pulling Kakashi’s attention up towards where his teammates were trying desperately to land a hit on their enemy. Apparently Obito needed to work on his speed.

“Kakashi!” Hearing his Sensei’s disapproving voice, Kakashi sighed. Why did he have to take care of all the enemies? If Obito and Rin were going to get promoted one day they were going to have to learn to take care of themselves. “Kakashi!”

Jumping out of the small circle of spikes, Kakashi headed straight to his teammates sides, getting there just in time to block a punch aimed for Obito’s face.

He’s certain that Obito’s complaining behind him. Saying something about how he didn’t ‘need’ help and how he could ‘handle it on his own’. He doesn’t hear a word of it.

Standing there with his enemies fist planted firmly against his arm, Kakashi stared straight into the other boys eyes and watched with horror as the black and white world around him slowly melted away. Colours burst forth, assaulting his eyes one after the other and distracting him for what he’s supposed to be doing.

He hates distractions.

He hates this.

Shoving the other boy away from himself, Kakashi stumbled backwards and slapped a hand over his eyes, trying desperately to block out all of the colours.

“Kakashi!” Rin’s hand came down on his shoulder, shaking him gently when he didn’t immediately look up at her. “Kakashi are you alright? What happened?”

“What did you do to me!?” The other boy protested, his voice cutting through Kakashi in a way no one else’s ever had. Calling out to him to drop his hand and look at him. The one who had caused all of these colours to come crashing down into his world.

“What happened?” Obito sounds panicked behind him. “Bakashi…”

It was a bad day when Obito was worrying about him.

“I’m fine.” he insisted, trying desperately to ignore the vibrant colours that were still assaulting his eyes, while also trying desperately not to let on what it was that was affecting him.

If his team found out that his soulmate was an enemy shinobi that would be the end. No one would ever trust him, and he’d never be able to show the village that he was different from his father. A shinobi that wouldn’t fail his village the way his father had.

Charging forward, he aimed for the other shinobi’s face with a punch and hissed when a hand wrapped around his wrist and pulled him back.

Minato-sensei, who had apparently decided to stop his own fight with the other kids Sensei and turn his attention over to them.

“I think you know this isn’t a fight you’re going to win,” Minato-Sensei’s voice is calm when he speaks to the other jonin, his eyes focused on the boy in front of them. “I think it’s best if you head back to Iwagakure, rather than making your final stand here today.”

Taking the hint, the other jonin showed up in front of the one student that was still standing.

“Gai,” his voice was sharp when he spoke to his student, but all Kakashi could focus on was the name he had said. The name that had caused the other boy to look up at his Sensei with wide eyes. “It’s time to fall back.”

Even after everything was said and done, Kakashi longed to reach out towards the other boy. To stop him from running away, risking the chance that they would never see each other again. He tried desperately to ignore that burning urge deep down inside of him, but he couldn’t help but watch as the other boy moved to collect the teammate nearest to him.

Why did it feel like his heart was breaking, watching a stranger turn his back to him and walk away?

Why did it hurt when that same stranger stopped just long enough to look back at him with soft, curious eyes, before disappearing back into the treeline with his Sensei?

Once they were gone, Minato-Sensei turned to face him. The calm expression was gone from his face, replaced instead with one of worry. “Kakashi, what happened?” He asked the same question that Obito and Rin had, sighing when Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and turned his gaze away from him. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“I just got blinded for a second, it’s fine.” He lied through his teeth, determined not to give away his secret.

It was bad enough that his Sensei was already disappointed in him because of his failures to work with his team as easily as he wanted him to. If he found out that his soulmate was an enemy shinobi…

Even his sensei wouldn’t be able to look past that. The dangers that it involved, the risk that Kakashi posed to the village having a soulmate from an enemy village. He’d be shunned and stripped of all of his accomplishments.

Just like his father.

“Are you sure?” Minato-sensei’s hand came down onto his shoulder. A gesture meant to comfort him, but there was nothing comforting about this situation at all. Pulling himself away, he growled slightly. He just wanted the conversation to end. “Well, in that case we should get home. We don’t know if there’s another enemy nearby.”

Good. They could finally get home where he could put as much distance between himself and his team as possible.

Maybe then he could actually find a way to forget about that horrendous green jumpsuit, or the bushiest-eyebrows he had ever seen.

Maybe then, he could convince himself that there was a way to fix this.

A way to prove to the village and himself that he would never fail the village he was sworn to protect. That he would never become the shinobi that his father had.

“Who even thinks it’s smart to attack us?” Obito huffed, making his way past Kakashi back down the road towards home. “Sensei has a flee on sight order in all villages, doesn’t he?”

“That doesn’t mean everyone listens to it, baka,” Kakashi grumbled under his breath, his eyes focused on the horrendous colour of Obito’s jacket. “Every shinobi is trying to make a name for themselves. They’re just lucky Sensei was being nice.”

“So were you,” Rin poked him in the shoulder, laughing when he glared over at her. “Oh come on Kakashi. You could have killed the other two shinobi you took down and you choice not to.”

“They didn’t have much of a choice,” he pointed out. “They were following their sensei, just like we would follow Minato-sensei into battle if that is what he told us to do.”

It was their jobs. They shouldn’t be punished for someone else’s bad calls.

“Well, I could have beat the other guy by myself if you hadn’t interrupted,” Obito insisted, smiling when everyone turned to look at him. “I was doing just fine.”

If by ‘fine’ he meant the other Shinobi was running circles around him, sure.

“Maybe one day you’ll get another shot to fight him,” Kakashi shook away the feeling of longing that bubbled inside of him at the thought of seeing the other boy again. He couldn’t be looking forward to that. They were enemies. “Then you’ll get to show him what you’re really made of.”

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Kakashi huffed.

He couldn’t explain the warm feeling inside of his chest when he looked at each new colour in front of him. The way that green leaves reminded him of the other boys jumpsuit, or how the orange of Obito’s jacket looked exactly like the leg warmers wrapped around the other boys legs.

Even thinking of the name that his Sensei had called out made Kakashi’s heart beat a little faster.

Gai.

Gai, a shinobi of Iwagakure and Kakashi’s soulmate.

He hated it, but a part of him also hoped for the day Rin spoke of.

The day he would get to see his soulmate again.


End file.
